The New Rule
by bornforparamore
Summary: What happens when Leslie's cousin moves in town? Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys! This is the first chapter and I hope you enjoy it! :)**

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_Three months after..._

**Jess**

It's been a while since I've entered Terabithia. I mean, alone. My little sister and i were the new rulers of Terabithia and we've decided on that a few days after Leslie's death. After our 'coronation', I had so much to do in school that I totally forgot to visit Terabithia for a good three weeks. Of course, I didn't forget Leslie, but remembering Leslie and Terabithia together's quite depressing in a way. It just so happened that I was so busy and I forgot all about it.

Terabithia just popped in my head when a new girl entered the classroom.

"Class," Mrs. Myers said, "meet Gabrielle del Carmen."

The class murmured. Why shouldn't they. This Gabrielle girl was pretty: with brown hair that curled in the end (which was slightly longer than Leslie's), green eyes, and a ready smile. Even I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"It just so happens that Gabrielle here is the cousin of Leslie, and she's here to finish whatever Leslie started." Mrs. Myers turned to Gabrielle. "Now, Gabrielle, please take the seat next to Jess Aarons over there."

"Thank you."

She had the same voice as Leslie. She had the same seat as Leslie. She had quite the same get-up as Leslie. She is _so _like Leslie. What the heck? If I were to forget about her to avoid depression, then I should get out of this school.

I looked - no - watched as she sat down on Leslie's chair. It should hurt seeing someone sitting on a then occupied chair, but it didn't. It's like I've known Gabrielle ever since.

She was smiling at me.

"Hey." Gabrielle whispered.

"Hi."

"Jess, right?"

Just like how Leslie introduced herself at the track-and-field.

"Yeah." I whispered back.

"Leslie told me all about you. She's really happy that you're always there for her."

"When?"

"After the day you opened your mind."

With a last smile, she tore her gaze away from me and focused on the blackboard, which left me at thought. _Leslie...Gabrielle..._These two girls were different in name yet similar in attitude.

_*Dismissal*_

Since the eighth graders graduated early, the people now had freedom to sit at the back of the bus. And that was exactly what Gabrielle did, fumbling with a camera.

I was really thinking if I were to sit beside her, but in the end, I did. I sat beside hr with a thump and a grunt for my little sister May Bell. Gabrielle smiled at me.

"Leslie told me that you're really into drawing." she said, pushing the camera in her bag.

"Kind of," I answered.

"May I see it?"

"I - left it at home."

"Oh."

We were silent. But not for long.

"My dad got me into photography just before I started school here." she told me. She took out the camera from her bag again. "I've got pictures of Leslie here, if you want to look at them."

"Oh. Sure." I took the camera with great care and browsed through the pictures.

Leslie was Gabrielle's model in most of the pictures. Then, there were pictures of them together and some landscapes. One struck me, though - one of the landscapes looked exactly like the mountain where May Bell's castle was built.

"Uh, Gabrielle?" I tapped her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Who shot this?" I pointed at the screen.

"Huh?" Gabrielle squinted. "Oh, Leslie shot that." she answered eagerly. "I sent her that camera ages ago. Then she shot that three days before her death."

"Terabithia." I whispered.

"What?"

"Oh. Nothing."

I gave her back the camera because I didn't feel like looking at the rest of the pictures.

"Cool pictures." I praised.

"Thanks, Jess."

"You're really into photography."

"Yeah. Like you are in art."

Just then, the bus stopped. It was at my stop now.

I looked at Gabrielle, said goodbye, then hopped off the bus with May Bell.

The bus started rolling as May Bell and I walked home. Then it stopped, and Gabrielle hopped out.

"Jess, wait!" she wailed, running.

"Are you - are you following me?"

"Not that I think of. I live at Leslie's former house."

"Really?" I chirped. I was glad that she lived near me.

"Yeah. Leslie's parents sold us the house. You want to come?"

"Uh, no." I said.

"Why?"

"Cause I want to show you something."

I pulled Gabrielle's hand, tossed my bag on the side of the road (she did i too) and we ran to the end of the road.

**Gabrielle**

I was speechless, tongue-tied, and red as Jess pulled me. We were running, and I had no idea where we were going and why. After a while, Jess slowed down. I thought we were already there. Wherever 'there' was.

Jess was smiling as he pulled me towards a stone bridge that seemed very sturdy. There was an arch on top of the bridge with a sign that said -

"Nothing crushes us." I read.

"I know." Jess breathed. "It's wonderful."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere. You have to keep your mind wide open to see."

"But - "

Jess placed a finger on his lips. "Sshh."

We walked some more, trees welcoming us. Twigs cracked under my feet. My camera was bouncing feebly inside its bag which I wore on my shoulder. Tightening my grip on both Jess's hand and the bag strap, I quickened my pace and ended up pulling Jess along the way.

And then I saw something.

Vultures hovered above us, crackling a sound that hurt my ears. If I was worried, Jess was horrified.

"They're watching." he whispered.

"Who?"

"I'll tell you later. But first, we need to get up that tree house!"

We climbed an oak tree and entered a tree house which looked renovated. There were cookie jars and table cloths inside - a sign that someone lived here some three months ago or so.

Jess motioned me to sot down beside him. I did as I was told.

The crackling faded away. Jess looked at me, smiling proudly as if I warned or found something extremely important to him.

"Where - where are we?" I asked, looking intently at his hazel eyes.

"Gabrielle," he started, "welcome to Terabithia."

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**The chapter is DONE! Please leave reviews so that I can improve next time. Thank you for reading!**

**-bornforparamore  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Gabrielle**

A few days ago, back in Terabithia, Jess told me a legend about a very beautiful kingdom. Ogres and trolls and humans lived happily in it. The name of that kingdom -- no doubt -- was Terabithia.

"If - if you're the king, and your sister May Belle replaced Leslie as queen, then what does that make me?" I asked, detatching the fisheye lens from my camera.

Jess gave me a look of confusion.

I chuckled. "Okay, okay. I got it. I'm just a guest of terabithia and I have no right to question its king."

"But you already know Terabithia's secrets," Jess gave in. "We can't just let you run along without a position. You need one. Something of royalty..."

Both of us thought for a minute, but Prince Terrein (or P.T. as Jess called him) licked my opened palms affectionately. It tickled, so I laughed.

"I didn't know that Prince Terrein liked me!" I laughed.

Just then, Jess had an idea because his eyes were glowing. I could tell if people had ideas or what.

"You shall be a princess, then." Jess declared in his booming ang kingly voice.

I gave him a furrowed-brow look.

"You can't leave this place without a position now that you know the Sacred Secrets." Jess laughed. "Please accept your princess-ship."

_Princess-ship? _"Ha-ha. Okay then. I'll be Princess Gabrielle del Carmen, ruler of Terabithia."

Jess smiled and held my hand (patted dry by my pants). "Welcome to the castle stronghold, Princess Gabrielle."

***Monday***

Gary Fulcher stole Jess's paint kit.

"Aint'cha gonna get these from me?" he teased, waving the wooden box high up in the air. Jess jumped up to reach, but Gary, being very stubborn and childish, had climbed up his desk and stood on it, making his height three times Jess's.

"Geddown from there and gimme that back?" Jess growled, still trying to reach.

"Hahaha! Ya can't reach!" Gary stuck out his tongue.

Then I couldn't take it anymore.

"Get down from thee, you jerk!" I wailed. "You'll break your neck, then you'll die, and then your parents'll kill for justice!"

Everyone, even Jess, looked at me with surprised looks on their faces. Except for Gary.

"Do you _really _think that I'm gonna listen to some new student, eh Gabriella?" he chuckled.

"It's _Gabrielle_." I corrected, inching myself nearer. "And if you have any problems with that, I don't care. I just want you to give back whatever's not yours."

Just then, Monster Mouth Myers entered the room and saw the commotion.

"Gary Fulcher!" she cried. "Is that Jess Aarons' paint set?"

"I -- uh --" Gary jumped from the desk.

"Yes, Mrs. Myers." I answered for him.

Monster Mouth Myers took a deep breath, exhaling through her nose.

"Gary, proceed to the Principal's office. Jess, keep your paint kit. And Gabrielle, you get extra credit."

I gasped. "Why?"

"Because never in my entire teaching life have I seen someone talk to Gary Fulcher like that."

_Oh really._

**Jess**

Gary didn't return from the Principal's office. Even during dismissal. Gabrielle was most worried.

"What if he gets expelled?" she asked, biting on her leather hand cuff.

I chuckled. "By stealing my paint kit? _Nah_."

"B-but stealing _is _a major offense."

"Yet he did it in front of everybody." I shut the paint kit box close and looked at Gabrielle -- straight into her gorgeous green eyes. "Gabrielle, Lark Creek's diferent from the city. There are bandits here. We're used to offenses so we don't put sanctions against them."

Gabrielle sighed, then nodded. "Well, I guess you're right. Florida _is _a heck of a city."

"Good." I said.

Surprisingly, she just smiled. And here's what else -- she rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

***Sunday***

We were getting ready for church when someone knocked on our door.

"I'll get it!" I called, and rushed to open the door. It was Gabrielle, and she looked stunned when she saw me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She pointed at my belly. "T-topless-!"

"Huh?" I loked down OH -- right. I didn't put any shirt on. "Oh -- yeah, I'm sorry --"

Gabrielle covered her eyes.

"What're you doing?" I asked.

"I've never seen a guy topless before -- and -- and I'm not really --"

"Oh, _come on. _May Belle! Get me a shirt!" I called. In an instant, May Belle appeared, carrying an orange shirt. I wore it.

"Okay, I'm dresseed." I said, and Gabrielle removed her hands from her eyes.

"Why's May Belle wearing a dress?" she asked.

"We're gonna see God in church." May Belle answered.

"Church?"

"You -- want to come?" I asked.

Gabrielle looked worried. "I'm Jewish."

"Oh."

"What's Jewish?" May Belle asked.

I shushed her and sgnaled her to be quiet. She obeyed kinly.

"Well - we only believe in the first five books of te Old testament, and Abraham is our prophet." Gabrielle explained.

"I've never heard of that." I confessed.

Gabrielle gave me a smile. "Well, now you know." she said. "I'll just come here after an hour or so, if that's okay."

"It's cool." I said. "Just don't go to Terabithia alone."

Gabrielle chuckled and walked away.

May Belle tugged my shirt.

"I thought Terabithia was _our _secret." she complained.

"Yeah, but Gabriele's Leslie, too." I said. "Gabriele's a Princess."

May Belle smiled. "At least I'm still queen."

_Yeah, whatever, _I felt like saying.

**Gabrielle**

An hour without Jess was very boring, specially when he told me not to go to Terabithia alone. I even forgot to tell Jess that I was bringing Princce Terrein along so I kind of have company while I was there.

Of course, I had something to do. I edited pictures of Leslie and other stuff. After browsing all of the pictures that I took, I saw my two only shots of Jess which turned out to be very nice. Shot in terabithia, Jess's face in one of the pictures was not his but of a king -- a worthy and responsible king.

Wait -- was I really saying that?

Anyway, after a short, short while, when I was editing pictures on my laptop, my dad came to my room.

"A Jess Aarons' looking for you down the hall." he said with a smile.

"Uh -- bring him here." I smiled back.

"Okay, Gab." and then he left.

I waited, and after some seconds, two voices were heard outside my room.

"This used to be the master's bedroom." dad explained. "Gabrielle, in my opinion, needed the large space, so she got this one for herself."

"Oh. Well thanks, Mr. del Carmen." Jess's voice arose.

"Call me Clark," dad said, "and you're very welcome.

Jess's footsteps pounded on the carped of my room and dad walked back to his office. I turned around to greet Jess.

"What're you doing?" he asked, sitting on a beanbag beside the chair I was sitting on.

"Editing pictures."

He stood p and rested his chin on my shoulder to get a better view of the screen. "Those are nice pictures. Why edit them?"

"Because we sell them."

"Oh."

"Can I ask you something?" I asked, abandoning my laptop and dropping to the carpet. He did, too.

"Sure."

"Was there a time when you did something, but regretted it in the end?"

"Uh huh." Jess began sharing with me the day when he and Ms. Edmunds went to the museum, just the two of them. He regretted it because when he returned, he found out that Leslie died from swinging on a rope.

Jess was near to tears. "That rope -- that rope was the only thing that separated Terabithia from the real world." he sniffed. "That was the first Bridge to Terabithia."

I patted his back and offered him a box of tissue. "I'm terribly sorry." I said, sniffing.

"Just the other day," Jess started, obviously trying to change the subject, "just the other day, I dreamth of you."

"Huh?"

"I'm serious!" Jess protested, puling a tissue from the box, wiping it to his eyes and laughing.

"And what does it have to do with Leslie?" I asked.

"Nothing. I dreamt of us -- the two of us."

"Then?" I turned around to see if the door's closed.

"We -- we were kissing."

"_What_??!?" I choked. "You're sick!"

"I _may _be, but it's -- only a dream." Jess sighed.

"What made -- what made you dream of that sort of thing?"

"The day you rested you head on my shoulderin the bus, I guess."

We had a moment of silence, so I thought about random stuff while we were at it. After a couple of seconds, Jess sighed.

"What if we actually _do _kiss?"

"Jess, we're too young." I said.

"A kid can dream, can't he?" Jess chuckled.

Suddenly -- and yes, it was very sudden -- Jess grabbed my hand and gripped on it tight.

"Don't move," he whispered, "Don't say a word."

And he inched his face nearer until our noses touched, and he gave me a kiss on the lips, just like that. I didn't even close my eyes like what they did on TV so I saw everything. If it's oay to describe, I felt his tongue. As if he's kissed someone before. And boy, did I turn redder than ever.

When he finally dtopped his racket, I took a deep breath and blinked my eyes.

"I -- I'm sorry, Gabrielle." he said. "I was just -- I'm really -- I'm so sorry."

I chuckled. "I'm fine, Jess. It's okay."

"Really?" Jess smiled.

"Yeah. In fact, I liked it." I bit my lip.

There was another moment of silence, and again I thought. But this time, I thought of Jess -- his pictures, his hair -- _everything. _I even thought about May Belle.

"Gab?" dad called from the living room.

Jess and I were startled.

"Yeah?" we chorused.

"There's a May Belle Aarons here and she says she needs Jess."

"Momma called for you." it was May Belle all right.

"Oh, sure." I called back. I turned to Jess.

"See you tomorrow." he smiled, patting my hair. He ran out to the door.

"Yeah. See you." I called after him.

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**Very cheesy, but I hope you like it! :)**

**-bornforparamore  
**


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